1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a heated vehicle seat with an internal heating apparatus, configured to warm up a surface of the seat by supplying electric power to a heating element provided therein. The invention also relates to a vehicle incorporating the heated seat apparatus, and to a method of using the apparatus.
2. Description of the Background Art
A number of different devices are known for electrically heating vehicle seats. Some examples of electric heating devices for vehicle seats have previously been known, including an electric heating element provided in a vehicle seat.
It is also known to interpose a thermostat between a heating element of a vehicle seat and an electric power source, thereby permitting intermittent supply of the electric power to the heating element, as needed to maintain a heat setting.
A cover for a vehicle seat, provided with a heating element, has become known as an electric heating device for a vehicle seat (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2001-106146 (P. 4, FIG. 1), for example).
One example of a conventional electric heating device for a vehicle seat includes: a cover which covers a vehicle seat; a heating element for heating this cover; a thermostat for turning electric power supplied to this heating element on and off; a selector for setting a target temperature for the heating element; and a battery for supplying electric power to the heating element.
In the conventional electric seat-heating device for a vehicle, the target temperature of the heating element is chosen with the selector. Electricity is supplied from the battery to the heating element, and the supply of electricity is turned on and off by the thermostat. Meanwhile, the known heated seats could use improvement, because the warm-up time between starting and achieving the target temperature takes too long, for example, when an outside temperature is low, and if this warm-up time could be shortened, comfort of the seat could be further improved.
It is notable that electrical resistance heating requires a significant amount of electric power to operate, which could make this power temporarily unavailable for other uses. Moreover, in conventional electric heating devices for vehicle seats, control of electricity for the heating function in response to a load condition of a vehicle has been sought after, instead of electric supply control in response to a drive condition of the vehicle. That is to say, with the known heated seats, electricity is supplied to the heating element even during acceleration of a vehicle (a motorcycle, for example). Depending on a driving condition, there may be a case where it is desired to improve an acceleration performance by temporarily interrupting or reducing a load attributable to electric power generation, for example.
Accordingly, a need still exists for an improved vehicle seat having an electric heating apparatus integrated therein, which can be modulated to improve the acceleration performance even during operation of the electric heating apparatus. A need also exists for an improved heated vehicle seat apparatus, which can be operated to improve comfort by quickly achieving a target temperature during a warm-up period.